A DRS malfunction caused Ferstappen to slow down at the Spanish Grand Prix Q3

After Leclerc drove into the chicane on his first lap with a timing in the 3rd quarter, Ferrari driver digs deep to make stunning second lap by lowering Ferstappen to second place.

Ferstappen saw that his chance for revenge had evaporated when he reported a loss of power in the first sector, but, according to team leader Horner, the DRS problem had caused the Dutch to lose speed.

“It wasn’t really a force. After all, it was the DRS that didn’t open,” Horner told Sky Sports. “So obviously we need to get the car back to understand what happened [it]because it opened on his back just like a check, like he came back to the pits. ”

While Leclerc and Ferstappen looked alike until the Red Bull problem deprived fans of a fair fight, Horner doesn’t think his driver would be enough to beat the Ferrari championship leader on his last lap.

“I don’t think we had enough today to beat Charles’ wheel. A great lap he made under pressure at the end. But yes, I’m still happy with the start in the front row,” he said, acknowledging that Ferrari raft upgrades for Barcelona gave him the advantage.

Ferstappen’s DRS problem isn’t the first gremlin to hit Red Bull this season, but Horner doesn’t think there’s any cause for concern.

“You know, things like that tend to happen,” he added. “We saw Ferrari changed the chassis last night due to a fuel system problem.

“Unfortunately, it happened at an inconvenient time, the last time you want it to be the last run in the third quarter. But as a team we work hard, we’re trying to figure out what the problem is. It may just be like a piece of rubber stuck in mechanism.

“It was unfortunate that there was no right of reply because I don’t think we would have defeated Charles today, but I think we would have been closer than time suggests.”